DESCRIPTION

This routine returns a pointer P to a two-dimensional array of shorts. P can
be de-referenced by P[row][col] to obtain the storage of a short. P[0]
points to a contiguous area of memory which contains the entire array. P[1]
is a short-cut pointer to the first element of the second row, and so on.
Thus the array can be accessed sequentually starting at P[0], or explicitly
by row and column. (Note that this is not the common way of setting up a
two-dimensional array--see below).
If TEST is #defined (unix only) then this routine is #define'd to be
debug_allocate_2D_short_array, which is the version available in the
development library. In development code, memory is tracked so that memory
leaks can be found more easily. Furthermore, all memory free'd is checked
that it was allocated by a KJB library routine. Finally, memory is checked
for overuns.
The routine free_2D_short_array should be used to dispose of the storage once
it is no longer needed.

RETURNS

On error, this routine returns NULL, with an error message being set.
On success it returns a pointer to the array.

WARNING

The structure of the returned array is somewhat different than a more
common form of a two-dimensional array in "C" where each row is allocated
separately. Here the storage area is contiguous. This allows for certain
operations to be done quickly, but note the following IMPORTANT point:
rows cannot be swapped by simply swapping row pointers!

DISCLAIMER

This software is not adequatedly tested. It is recomended that
results are checked independantly where appropriate.